


Trouble In Paradise

by Newsetofproblems



Category: The Beatles (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Panic, Idiots in Love, Internalized Homophobia, John and Paul share a braincell, John is bi, John is out, Light Angst, Multi, Paul is "totally straight", Period-Typical Homophobia, Sharing a Bed, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:13:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newsetofproblems/pseuds/Newsetofproblems
Summary: “Do you wanna go or not?”“Who’s turning down trips to Hawaii these days?”---When John wins himself a romantic trip to Hawaii from a TV talent contest, he decides to bring Paul along as his date. The tricky thing is: they’re not actually together.
Relationships: John Lennon/Paul McCartney, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Past Cynthia Lennon/John Lennon, Past John Lennon/Stuart Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney/Original Character(s)
Comments: 66
Kudos: 148





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaaaaaah, I'm finally posting this!! I'm excited but also lowkey nervous. This is my first long-form fic so please be patient with me.
> 
> A huge thank you to Laura, my wonderful beta reader and editor. This fic wouldn't be nearly as nice and polished without her. Follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/kiwimccartney

**From:** [ tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk ](mailto:tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk)

**To:** [ j0hnsilverlennon@gmail.com ](mailto:j0hnsilverlennon@gmail.com)

**Subject:** Congratulations! You’ve won TV5’s Musical Valentines’ Contest!

Hello John,

Congratulations on winning our Musical Valentines’ Contest! You and your special someone just earned yourselves an all expenses paid, week long trip to Hawaiian resort Coconut Paradise!

To claim your prize, please follow these steps:

  * Confirm that you meet all of the entry requirements at [TV5.com/valentinescontest](TV5.com/valentinescontest)
  * Send an email to [tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk](mailto:tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk) within 5 days to claim your prize
  * In the email, please confirm that’s it OK for us to publish you and your SO’s name on our social channels



If you have any questions, just email us at [ tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk ](mailto:tv5svalentinescontest@tv5.co.uk), we’re happy to help.

Kind Regards,

The TV5 team

John stared blankly at his phone, skimming over the email once more. Well, fuck. He hadn’t expected this. He’d entered the contest months ago, mostly for a laugh, not expecting anything to come of it. To enter you had to submit a recording of yourself performing an original love song or something like that. John had just hastily recorded himself singing something half finished and sent it through thinking nothing more about it. And… he’d won. He’d bloody won the dumb contest with that. 

John snorted, thumb hovering over the link. Free vacation, who was he to turn it down? He was taken to an incredibly garish looking site, full of love hearts and coconuts that touted the words:

**Requirements**

-You must be over 18 

-You must reside in the UK

-You must have a valid passport

-As per this being a Valentines contest, the trip is designed to be a joint vacation, so you will fail to be eligible if you don’t have a +1

Fuck. Prejudiced gits, single people were miserable as it is on Valentines Day, they didn’t have to be locked out of a trip to Hawaii too! John supposed he could regift the prize to Ringo and Maureen or Stu and Astrid.

“Lennon! Your lunch is over, I need those drawings on my desk by two!” his boss crowed. 

…Or he could rope someone in to go with him. Better than working in this shithole for another week. He mentally listed his options. Ritchie was taken so John couldn’t exactly ask him. Despite still being good friends with Cyn, a week long “romantic” trip would be awkward for the both of them. Stu was out for both those reasons, George would say no so there wasn’t even a point. Which left… Paul. And sure, maybe Paul was the one John wanted to go with, and if he asked Paul right now, Paul would say yes but... fast forward to halfway through the trip Paul would probably get weird about it and complain for the remainder of the time.

“Lennon!”

But he needed to get out of here right the fuck now. So, putting his doubts aside, he flicked a text to Paul.

**_John:_ ** _ey, remember when i entered into that tv contest?_

**_Macca:_ ** _valentines one, right?_

**_John:_ ** _i won_

He sent a screenshot of the email.

**_Macca:_ ** _shit_

**_Macca:_ ** _congrats_

**_John:_ ** _gotta have a plus 1 tho_

**_Macca:_ ** _who’s the lucky bird/bloke?_

**_John:_ ** _well_

**_John:_ ** _congratulations james paul mccartney u have been selected to be the magnificent john winston lennon’s hawaii holiday date_

Paul took a minute to respond, three dots appearing and disappearing. John was about to type out ‘nvm’ when Paul replied.

**_Macca:_ ** _a bit early for a holiday to hawaii don’t you think?? you haven’t even bought me dinner first_

**_John:_ ** _oh fuck off_

**_Macca:_ ** _doesn’t seem proper_

**_John:_ ** _since when do you care about what’s proper??_

**_Macca:_ ** _since now_

**_John:_ ** _git_

**_Macca:_ ** _now that’s no way to treat your hawaii date_

**_John:_ ** _do u wanna go to hawaii or not_

**_Macca:_ ** _if you buy me dinner_

**_John:_ ** _and then??_

**_Macca:_ ** _who’s going around turning down trips to hawaii these days?_

**_John:_ ** _idk_

**_John:_ ** _u know we’re gonna have to pretend to be a couple_

**_Macca:_ ** _that’s fine with me_

John tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat.

**_Macca:_ ** _but ur still buying me dinner_

**_John:_ ** _fine_

“John, it’s 1:30!”

**_John:_ ** _gotta go_

Hours later, he got another text from Paul.

**_Macca:_ ** _I was joking earlier btw_

**_Macca:_ ** _u don’t have to buy me dinner_

John smirked and replied.

**_John:_ ** _too late_

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Romantic Villas And Weary Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, we really begin.
> 
> Again, I can't thank Laura for beta-ing and editing enough. She's been an incredible consultant throughout all of this.

When they arrived in Hawaii, the time was 1:00 am. The flight had been 14 hours leaving them both jetlagged and tired. Though the actual flight itself hadn’t been particularly terrible or anything. Paul already knew he could keep up a conversation with John for an ungodly amount of time so there were no issues on that front. And even when their conversation inevitably died down, there was a fairly decent catalogue of movies to choose from. Still, combined with the flight length, the lack of sleep, the illuminating lights of the airport and the tedious process of customs, he felt rather fatigued. John wasn’t fairing much better. Not half an hour ago Paul had witnessed him take an almost full ten seconds to respond when the officer had asked him for his job.

But somehow, they both managed to grab their bags, (despite it taking more than five minutes for Paul to see his luggage which he did NOT freak out about, no matter what John said) stumble their way through customs, and now, they were finally outside the airport, in the pick-up area. According to John, a car from the resort would come to pick them up. That’s how it would work for the entire trip apparently. And like everything, it was  _ free _ . Paul still couldn’t believe the strike of luck John had with this, and that he’d decided to share it with  _ him  _ of all people.

Then again, Paul supposed he could hardly call it luck. The song John had written for the contest was absolutely beautiful, even if John himself refused to acknowledge it. John had kept telling Paul that there was no real competition. That TV5 was dying and there weren’t many entries to compete with anyway. Even that “the judges were all boomers anyway,” so “of course they liked his shitty guitar ballad.”

“Well I liked it, does that make me a boomer?” Paul had said to him the night he found out John won the contest. John had simply looked up at him and said

“Yes.”

Still, no matter what John wanted to believe, his songwriting was definitely improving at an incredible rate these days. His songs were becoming so introspective and beautiful. He deserved to be recognised for it. Even if that was through a gifted holiday from a dying TV station.

Paul noticed a car with “Coconut Paradise” printed in a rather obnoxious font pull up a few meters away from him. He tried to catch the attention of the driver as best he could for a figure in the distance and waved. He could vaguely see the driver make a gesture back and then the car began to move closer to them, eventually pulling up in front of them. The driver wound his window down to look at them.

“John Lennon and Paul McCartney?” he inquired.

“In the flesh,” Paul replied while John responded with a mumbled “mm, yes,” at the same time. They placed their bags in the trunk of the car then shuffled into the backseat. Once the driver looked to see if they were settled, he drove off.

There was silence in the car for a couple of minutes. Paul didn’t really bother to engage with John, the poor lad looked like he was about to pass out any second the way he was blearily staring at his phone. So, he contented himself with watching the city lights go by until the driver spoke.

“So, which one of you two is the contest winner?” he asked.

“That would be John,” Paul replied, taking a glance at his friend who was still looking at his phone. Yeah, John didn’t seem like he was in a particularly chatty mood.

“And it was for a song, right?” the driver continued.

“Yeah! John’s a songwriter. I am too, actually, but John was the only one that entered into the contest.”

“I see, so you’re a songwriting duo huh?”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, I guess,” he replied.

“So how long have you two been together anyway?” the driver asked him, and Paul felt himself tense. He’d gotten so caught up in the act of actually  _ getting here  _ he almost forgot he and John were supposed to be pretending to be a couple. And they hadn’t even planned any backstory or anything,  _ fuck _ , why hadn’t they thought to do that?

“U-um, a year and a half,” he forced out. He saw in his periphery John look to him. Paul continued, “We were friends before that, but uh, around a year and a half ago John came out to me and… I suppose that made me realise some things about myself and here we are.” He could still feel John’s eyes on him. He hoped he hadn’t said anything wrong or anything that John wasn’t okay with. See, what Paul said hadn’t been a  _ complete  _ lie. John actually had come out to him just a little under a year and a half ago… the only fabrication was the stuff at the end.

Paul was slightly startled by fingers on his own and John’s voice saying, “You see I was just too irresistible for Paulie, here.” The driver chuckled at that.

“Well you both seem quite fond of each other,” he said and Paul internally breathed a sigh of relief. “I hope you enjoy your week here, I’ve been here for about five years now and lemme tell you, it’s a beautiful place, especially to share with the person you love. Especially where you’re going.” Paul smiled at that.

“Thank you, I’m sure we will,” he replied. John’s hand still hadn’t left his own. It didn’t for the whole drive. 

The resort was quiet when they arrived. The only sign of any other resident was light coming from a couple of villas scattered about the place. The driver kindly helped Paul and John unpack their luggage from the car and the two of them made their way to reception to check in. The poor concierge looked half asleep when he gave them the key to their villa and their itinerary. 

“Of course we want to make sure you feel free to spend your time here how you like, however there are some mandatory events we’d like you to attend,” the concierge explained. They thanked him and set off towards their villa. It had taken John all but a minute to start complaining about the itinerary.

“I mean, we’re supposed to be on bloody holiday! We should be able to do what we like shouldn’t we?! There shouldn’t be any ‘required events!’”

Paul chuckled at his friend’s impatience. “C’mon, this is all free remember? If we hafta go to some resort event every now and again, so be it.” John grumbled something Paul couldn’t make out in response.

The villa was beautiful. It was right next to the beach and lined with tropical greenery. Wooden steps led up to a veranda that had a table and chairs on one side and a loveseat on the other.

“Comfy, isn’t it?” John commented. Paul nodded in agreement and made his way up the veranda steps towards the door, John following closely behind. The inside smelt of wood and sea salt. Illuminated by a dim lamp in the corner, the walls were painted a calming cream and lined with several decorative paintings of beaches and oceans. In the middle, a TV sat on the wall in front of a small but comfy looking white couch with blue, heart shaped cushions.

While Paul was still taking the ambiance, John stepped past him and headed down a hall off to the side, presumably looking for the bedroom. He heard a door open and then John burst into laughter

“Christ, there's bloody rose petals on the bed!” he exclaimed. Paul giggled.

“Really?!” he called out and followed John’s path. He took a glance over John’s shoulder and sure enough, rose petals had been scattered on the top of a king-sized bed. The lights, like the rest of the villa, were dim and there was a bottle of champagne along with two glasses on the right bedside table. 

“Well, you certainly can’t say they’re under any illusion about what anyone will be doing in this room,” Paul chuckled. John snorted and went to set his bags and guitar case down in the corner of the room.

“They’re under an illusion about what  _ we’ll _ be doing though. It can’t be comfortable to sleep with bloody petals all through the sheets, can it?” He yawned and stretched out his arms. “Actually, at this point I’m just happy not to be sleeping in a bleedin’ airplane seat. If you’re uncomfortable with sharing the bed then you’re the one sleeping on the sofa, not me.” Paul’s brow furrowed at that last comment.

“Why… why would I be uncomfortable with it?” Paul asked, trying not to sound defensive. “we used to share beds all the time.”

“Mm, but we haven’t since…” John trailed off and suddenly it clicked.  _ Since he came out…  _ Paul’s brain supplied. They hadn’t shared a bed since John had come out to him. 

“John… John you know that doesn’t make a difference to me, right? Nothing’s changed,” he murmured. John wasn’t looking at him. “Look, it’s not like I think you’re gonna jump me in me sleep, okay?” he tacked on, trying to inject some humour into the situation. John turned to him, and slowly his lips developed into a smirk.

“You’re way too trusting, Paulie, one of these days someone’s gonna take advantage of you,” he said slyly. The both of them devolved into giggles.

And yet the interaction still played on Paul’s mind. Long after they had made their way to bed, while John was sleeping peacefully next to him, Paul was awake, still thinking about what John had said. Did John really think that it mattered to him? After all this time? Paul had always done his best to make sure his friend felt accepted, and yet he always felt like John was keeping him at an arm’s length, at least when it came to stuff like this. Since he came out as bisexual, the only time John ever brought up his sexuality to Paul, or any of their other friends for that matter, was for a laugh or to make someone feel uncomfortable. John never really seriously talked about his attraction to men, or at the very least not the same way he talked about girls. Even when he was with Stuart, they were rarely publicly affectionate, with the one exception being when John was drunk or stoned. Granted, Paul had never been Stu’s biggest fan exactly, but that wasn’t because he was a  _ Lad _ , he just thought John could do better, was all. Either way, it seemed that John was determined to make sure his attraction was almost invisible to Paul and Paul  _ hated  _ it. He hated that he had been locked out of that part of his friend’s life, that he either didn’t trust Paul or wasn’t comfortable with him. But... maybe this trip was exactly what he needed to prove to John that he was okay with it. That he wasn’t uncomfortable with John being bi or whatever John’s hang up was. A rush of determination came over Paul. Yes, this was the perfect opportunity. If he could show John that acting like he was gay didn’t phase him, he could show him that  _ being  _ gay didn’t phase him.

Paul turned to his side and was greeted with John’s sleeping face. He looked so calm like this, Paul noted. Eyes, closed, lips parted, face relaxed. It was nice. No wit, no bravado, just John, in his most vulnerable state. Paul smiled and closed his eyes. They were going to enjoy their time here, he could feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again comments are what fuel me so if you would be so kind to leave me one, it would be very appreciated <3
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr: https://theotherproblems.tumblr.com/  
> twitter: https://twitter.com/newsetofprobs
> 
> Laura's twitter (she posts top tier content): https://twitter.com/kiwimccartney


	3. Greetings And Performances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took longer to write than I expected, apologies for the wait! Admittedly I've sometimes struggled with motivation, but I've started to get into the habit of writing a little bit of the fic each day so hopefully the next chapter will be less of a wait. Thank you for sticking with me :)

Rays of light danced around Paul’s eyes, slowly pulling him into consciousness. He blinked a few times, taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. He was briefly confused as to why he wasn’t in his bedroom, but his most recent memories soon came floating to the surface of his mind. He was in the villa. He arrived in Hawaii last night… yeah it was all coming back. And… John was here with him. He turned to see the other man still sound asleep next to him. Hair ruffled, mouth slightly open, completely still except for the rise and fall of his chest. He looked almost like a child Paul smiled and shook his head. 

He reached for his phone on the bedside table and opened to see his lockscreen picture of Martha.  _ I’m gonna miss you this week, girl _ , he thought to himself. He glanced up at the time. 10:30. That was enough time to eat breakfast right? Oh please say it was enough time. He scrambled for the itinerary. The info session was at 12:00. Thank god, they had enough time. Still, Paul figured they should probably get going sooner rather than later. So, after a few seconds of working up the nerve to do so, he rolled over and began to nudge John slightly.

“John… John, come on, it’s time to wake up,” he murmured. John stirred, burying his nose further into his pillow. Paul chuckled and rolled his eyes. “ _ John _ ,” he persisted. A groan. Paul resorted to a proper elbow.

“Piss  _ off,  _ Paul,” John whined.

“No.” Paul continued to shake him. “We have to get up if we want breakfast, come on.”

John turned to look up at Paul, eyes still blinking and adjusting. “Why can’t we just skip the stupid introduction?” he huffed. Paul grabbed his pillow and playfully whacked John over the head with it.

“No, you git, we shouldn’t be giving the staff reasons to hate us,” he chuckled. In hindsight, he probably should’ve expected some retaliation on John’s part but at the time a pillow suddenly being thrown in his face was the last thing he expected, causing him to fall backwards off the bed onto the floor. He blinked a few times, shock still shielding him from any pain he may have felt when suddenly he heard John calling out

“Paul! Shit, Macca I didn’t mean…” John’s head peaked over the side of the bed “Are you okay?!” he blurted, eyes wide and swelling with genuine concern. Paul couldn’t help but respond to his friend’s worry with an absolutely wicked grin.

“Good,” he said. “Now you’re awake.”

The restaurant, while bustling, was not as packed as Paul initially expected, which he was grateful for. Everything seemed like it would run in a timely manner. He and John joined the small line in the entry area for a concierge to give them a seat. Paul could sense a pair of eyes on him and turned to make eye contact with a middle-aged woman who quickly averted her eyes. She then turned to a man, her husband, Paul assumed, and began to speak in a soft voice

“Brett, Dear, why don’t we come back once the line’s gone down.” The husband whipped around.

“Huh?! But we’re almost at the front!” he exclaimed in a thick southern accent. The wife bit her lip.

“Yes… but if we eat now I’m worried we’ll be late for the orientation.” He raised an eyebrow. “We can always eat later! If not here, there are some fairly nice breakfast bars in the area,” she went on. He sighed.

“If it’s what you really want,” he muttered and the two turned to walk out the door.

“The fuck was that about?” Paul heard John ask once the couple had left. Paul shrugged.

“Beats me,” he said.

“Next,” the concierge called and that was their cue. “Alright the entry fee is-”

“We’re John Lennon and Paul McCartney,” John cut in.

“’ _ Ey _ ,” Paul nudged him.

“ _ What? _ ”

The concierge simply chuckled. “You’re the contest winners right? Go right in, everything in the buffet is free, anything on the menu you have to pay for,” he explained.

“Thank you, Sir,” Paul replied and walked into the main room with John who was headed straight for the buffet at the front of the room. He grabbed a plate and wasted no time finding bacon and eggs to pile onto it. Paul followed closely behind with the eggs but struggled to find anything else that he could add to his plate other than toast.

“Excuse me?” he asked a waitress walking by them. “Are there any vegetarian options?”

“Yeah, sure!” the waitress replied with a smile and pointed down the buffet. “All our vegetarian alternatives are down the end of the buffet or you can check our menu, it lists all our vegetarian dishes.” Paul smiled back at her.

“Thanks.” He could feel John’s eyes on the back of his neck. Paul turned to see his friend staring at him with a bemused look. “What?”

John snorted. “Nothing,” he said and walked towards the vegetarian section, Paul following behind. After perusing the various options, he eventually chose vegetarian bacon to match his eggs. They quickly found an empty table and dug in.

“Alright seriously what the fuck even is vegetarian bacon?!” John finally snapped and Paul burst into laughter.

“ _ That’s _ your issue?”

“It’s bloody stupid, I can’t believe you’re even still on this vegetarian kick,” John said, pointing his fork at Paul before using it to shovel egg into his mouth. “Trust me in two months you’ll be back to eating meat,” he continued, mouth full. Paul shook his head.

“You said the same thing two months ago,” he countered. John just rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” he muttered, swallowing the last of his egg. “What does this ‘vegetarian bacon’ even taste like anyway?” And before Paul could stop him, he swiped some off his plate and threw it into his mouth. To Paul’s surprise, John’s expression actually lightened.

“How is it?” Paul asked with a smirk. John shot him a glare.

“Jus’ cause they can make a thing tasty doesn’t mean it’s bacon. Besides how do we know it’s not a one off?” he said before once again reaching for Paul’s plate but this time Paul slapped his hand away.

“Ey, stop nabbing me food!” he said, trying to hide his amusement.

“C’mon what’s another mouthful gonna hurt?”

“ _ No _ .” Paul had a wicked idea. “Unless…” A fun idea. An idea that would not only playfully test John’s pride but also… “Unless you let me feed it to you.” John’s eyes widened.

“ _ What?! _ ” he exclaimed. Paul only giggled, picking up some meat free bacon with his fork.

“It’s something couples do, right?” he asked innocently, flashing his friend a small smile and holding the fork out to him. “And we’re supposed to be a couple.”

John stared at the fork and hesitated. He met Paul’s eyes and slowly, put his lips around the fork. Paul watched as he dragged the bacon off, into his mouth and licked his lips, not breaking eye contact once. Paul’s neck started to prickle with sweat. There was something strangely…  _ intense  _ about it all. Paul couldn’t place exactly what it was, but he knew John was doing it on purpose. John was still staring at him chewing the faux meat and then swallowing, adam’s apple bobbing as he did.

“Something the matter Paul?” he asked, mirroring Paul’s own put on tone earlier and Paul could feel his cheeks grow hot.

“Fuck off,” he muttered and watched as a devious grin spread across John’s face. The down-right  _ delight _ he took in embarrassing Paul was evident.

“Bastard,” Paul murmured.

“What was that?”

“I said you’re a bastard, Lennon!”

John just burst into hysterics. Despite himself, Paul couldn’t help but follow.

The orientation was set to take place in a large recreation hall at the centre of the resort. When the two stepped in, it was filled with regular indoor activities, a couple of arcade machines, a pool and a foosball table. There was a muted TV on the wall that was playing some generic morning show. The rest of the place was decorated with surf boards and sea shells. In the middle of the room there was a circle of chairs with three people standing in the middle of them.

The first two, Paul noted, were the couple from earlier. The woman who insisted they leave and… Brett. The second was a woman who seemed to be around his own age, wearing shorts and a Coconut Paradise staff t-shirt. As he and John began to approach, she turned, noticing their footsteps, and met them half-way.

“Hello, are you here for the couples’ orientation?” she asked.

“We are indeed,” Paul replied. She gave him a wide smile.

“Great! I’m Morgan and I’ll be your guide for this orientation and if you so choose, the rest of this trip.”

“Sounds good to me,” Paul smiled back at her.

“We’ll start in a few minutes, we’re just waiting for every-”

“Eh, Morgan? I have a question,” the southern man from earlier called. Morgan turned her head and replied

“Sure, I’ll be right there!” She looked back at Paul and John. “Sorry…” she said.

“It’s completely fine,” Paul assured. She gave them one last smile and walked back to the other couple. There was silence for a few seconds when suddenly John nudged him.

“Stare at her arse any harder and people will start thinking we’re having some trouble,” he teased. Blood rushed to Paul’s cheeks.

“I wasn’t!” he exclaimed. John smirked.

“Don’t get too defensive now.” Paul huffed.

“Yer just hellbent on embarrassing me today,” Paul huffed.

“Lighten up, Paulie.”

Paul stuck his tongue out.

Within the next ten minutes more couples began to file into the hall. The age range was surprisingly young, Paul noticed. The middle-aged couple from earlier seemed to be the eldest there. Most other people seemed to be around his own age, perhaps slightly older. Eventually, they all found themselves within the circle of chairs. Morgan reintroduced herself to everyone and began going through the itinerary, giving more information on the activities listed, from tours to boat rides to kayaking, to a romantic movie night.

“And since you’ll be participating in these activities together, I thought it would be good if we all did an introduction exercise,” she went on. “Between you and your partner I would like you to number yourself either as a one or a two.” Chatter arose amongst each of the couples.

“Ladies first,” John whispered to Paul who subsequently elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow!”

“You can go first now,” Paul chastised.

“No, no wait, I was kidding I promise! C’mon whatever this is, I don’t wanna go first.” Paul sighed.

“Fine,” he said and poked John’s cheek.

“Don’t do that.”

“Make me.”

“Has everyone picked their numbers?” Morgan asked to a resounding yes. “Great. Okay ones, I would like you to stand up and introduce yourself and your partner, and tell us why you decided to go on this trip,” she explained. “We can start with the couple on my left if that’s alright?”

A woman with ginger hair and a sun hat stood up next Morgan and nodded.

“Of course!” she replied. “Hi, I’m Athena,” she said and gestured to another woman beside her, “and this is my partner, Maggie. And… we’re actually here on our honeymoon.” Huge grins appeared on the two girls’ faces as Athena continued to explain they’d gotten married two years prior in their home state.

“Congratulations!” Morgan exclaimed. “I really hope you enjoy your honeymoon here, that’s so sweet!” She turned, “would the next couple like to share?” The man next to Maggie stood up as Athena sat down.

“Hey, I’m Alex, this is my girlfriend Millie, and we’ve actually been saving for this trip for two years… so, it’s been a long time coming.”

“I hope the wait was worth it,” Morgan said. She met Paul’s eyes and gave him a small smile. Right. It was his turn. He stood up and cleared his throat.

“Uh, hey I’m Paul, this is John.” From the corner of his eye he could an overexaggerated smile and twirl his fingers. He tried not to laugh. “And we’re here cause we won a contest, or, John did specifically. And… since I’m his boyfriend I get to tag along too.” John looked up at him. He smiled back.

“What was the contest for?” Millie asked.

“Songwriting,” Paul replied. “John and I are both songwriters but only he entered the competition.”

“That’s so cool…” Millie murmured. She looked at John, “you must be talented.”

“Mhm, all in a hard day’s night,” John replied and the group giggled at the expression.

“Well congrats, John,” Morgan said. “Well, last but not least.” She gestured to the middle aged couple. The man stood up.

“Hey, I’m Brett, this is my wife, Kathy, or Katherine. We’re a bit older than you kids but I hope we can still get along. And we’re actually here on our wedding anniversary,” he explained.

“Awe, that’s cute!” Athena exclaimed. “You guys are here on your anniversary and we’re on our honeymoon! How long have you been together?”

“Twenty-three years this Friday,” Brett replied with a grin.

Athena’s jaw dropped. “Oh wow, that’s amazing…”

“Hopefully you can give us some tips on how to stay together,” Maggie chuckled.

Paul’s brow furrowed as he watched Katherine give a tight smile in return. Between the restaurant and how she acted around Athena and Maggie it almost seemed like… well, perhaps he shouldn’t judge prematurely.

“I really hope all of you have wonderful times here,” Morgan said. “Genuinely, you all seem so lovely. Now that introductions are out of the way… twos.” Paul could swear she gave a small smirk. “You’ll tell us what you find most attractive about your partner and why.” A pang hit his chest as he heard John sputter and shy giggles arise amongst the other couples. Paul cleared his throat and turned to his fake boyfriend.

“What, am I that hideous that you can’t come up with anything nice to say about me?” he whispered, battering his eyelashes. John gave him a pout. 

“Shut up,” he murmured, and not wanting to admit he may have been just as nervous as John was, Paul did.

Like before, each half of a couple took turns in standing up to say their piece. Maggie talked about how she loved Athena’s bravery, and how cute her freckles were. Millie had stood up all flushed and murmured

“This might sound cliché but I love Alex’s smile,” and went on to describe how it always brightened her day. When it came John’s turn, he was still for a moment. Paul glanced at his friend, his expression was unreadable. Then, slowly he stood.

“What’s most attractive about Paul? Why, his sexy brain of course,” he said simply, and the room chuckled. Paul felt himself break into an uncomfortable sweat. And then, John went on. “Mm, it may seem silly but I mean it, really. I mean, you want a partner that understands ye, almost on an instinctual level, someone that can both match and challenge you and has fun doing it.” He looked at Paul and gave him a small smile. “And that’s what Paul is.” Paul was frozen in place, cheeks growing hotter by the second. John… John didn’t say stuff like  _ this _ . Was this… genuine? Or put on for the sake of those around them? Should he thank John in private later? He’d feel like a bit of a wanker if John meant it and he didn’t say anything. Then again he’d look even more of a wanker if John  _ hadn’t  _ meant it.

“He’s got a great arse too,” John said, pulling Paul out of his thoughts. The entire room burst into laughter. The exception of course, being Katherine who stood up and patiently waiting for the chuckles to die down.

“The thing I find most attractive about Brett are his eyes,” she said, and Paul found himself rolling his own.

Paul got a call from Ringo at around 8pm.

“And how’s the newlyweds?” his friend asked and Paul snickered.

“Ugh, he’s driving me mad already, Rich. I knew marrying him was a mistake!” he quipped, and he heard Ringo snort. “There was a newlywed couple at the orientation actually,” he went on as he stepped outside the villa.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. A lesbian couple.”

“Some solidarity for you.”

“Shut up,” Paul giggled. He looked at the sky, the stars were bright and beautiful.

“So where is yer other half?” Ringo asked.

“John? Oh, he’s taking a shower.”

“Should be glad the lad’s decided to do that much.” They both laughed. “So, you went to an orientation?”

_ What’s most attractive about Paul? Why, his sexy brain of course. _

“Oh yeah, it was just so we could be told about the activities and meet the other people on the trip ‘n stuff. We decided to go back to the villa after though, we’re still kinda jet-lagged,” Paul explained.

“Mm, I’d imagine the whole couple act gets tiring too,” Ringo said. Paul’s brow furrowed.

“Huh? No, it’s fun…” A breeze hit his face. Should he find it tiring? “It’s like… a fun secret or a practical joke that only you’re in on. Like… method acting.” Ringo chuckled.

“The two of you can be mad sometimes.” Paul was silent. “Then again, it’s only the first day, by the end of it you’ll probably be complaining about how annoying the whole thing was.” They both laughed.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Ringo hung up after around ten more minutes of talking and Paul headed back into the villa, only to find John, wet hair dripping on the sofa, watching some knock off of the bachelor.

“You’re eating cornflakes at this hour?” Paul asked, taking note of the bowl of cereal in John’s hands.

“Cornflakes are appropriate at any hour of the day, McCartney,” John said, taking another spoonful. Paul smiled and took a seat next to him.

“Why are ye watching this crap, anyway?” he noted.

“I dunno. I was bored, it was on.”

“That makes two of us, I suppose.”

The programme went on, they continued watching, occasionally making snide comments at the tv, making each other laugh. It may have seemed like a waste of time, to come all the way to Hawaii just to mock some reality tv show. It should have, at least. So why didn’t it? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a huge thank you to Laura for both beta-reading and consulting on this fic. I could really not do this without her.
> 
> Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/kiwimccartney
> 
> And come talk to me on tumblr: https://theotherproblems.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you for reading, I really hope you enjoyed.


	4. The Discomfort In Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok it's finally up! Sorry to have kept you all waiting, I wish I could work as fast as some other authors on here, I really dk how y'all do it. Regardless I really hope you enjoy the chapter. Once again a huge thanks to Laura for beta-reading this. you can follow her on twitter  
> @ kiwimccartney. You can also follow me on tumblr: theotherproblems.tumblr.com

John stared at the bedside lamp, opening and closing his eyes. Oh. He was awake. Right. He stretched his arms and legs and rolled to the other side of the empty bed. Hold on, empty? Wasn’t Paul supposed to be here? Paul! John shot up, only to finally hear the sound of running water coming from the other room. Ah. He was just taking a shower, John thought as he flopped down on the bed once more. It’s not as if Paul was going to wake him up  _ everyday  _ they were there. He only woke him up yesterday for the orientation. The orientation…  _ I mean, you want a partner that understands ye, almost on an instinctual level. _ Christ, why did he say that shit yesterday? And the fucking  _ bacon. _ Vegetarian bacon. Whatever. John buried his head into the pillow, face heating up. Paul’s probably embarrassed. Uncomfortable. John  _ knew _ this would happen. He sat up, punching the pillow us he did. He needed fresh air.

The sun shone brightly, despite the cold morning air still nipping at John’s ankles. And as he heard the waves crash and felt a breeze blow through his hair, he could suddenly remember why he wanted to go on this trip in the first place. Paul agreed to this too, if he decided to be an ass about it, that wasn’t John’s problem. He scuffed his feet in the sand a little, until he spotted someone walking towards him. It was one of the guys from the orientation. What was his name again…? Alex?

“And Millie told me I was the only one crazy enough to be out at this hour!” the man called out. John snorted.

“Trust me, any other day I’d be in bed,” he replied. Alex chuckled as he stopped in front of him.

“You’re John, right? The one that one the contest?”

“Yes, no autographs.”

“Damn, I’m heartbroken,” Alex laughed. “I was just asking ‘cause I was wondering what kind of music you write, I think it’s pretty cool that you’re a musician.” John stared at the ground.

“Just bits and pieces y’know,” he muttered. “The thing that won me the contest was a ballad, sort of sixties-esque.”

“Nice, nice. So is most of your stuff sixties inspired?” Alex asked.

“I wouldn’t say that. But… I guess a lot of the stuff I listen to is from the sixties. And the fifties. I’ve always loved a lot of the fifties rockers,” John explained.

“No way, me too!” Alex exclaimed. John looked up.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah man, my grandma got me hooked on them when I was a kid! She loved all those guys, especially Little Richard, though I guess that’s a given, being Black and growing up in Georgia.” John gave a small smile.

“You know, Paul can sing like Little Richard,” he said. “Shouty growls and rasps ‘n all that?” Alex’s eyes widened. 

“Damn, really?! Between you and him there’s some serious talent. You’re a lucky man John,” he smirked, “and you’re lucky to have Paul.” John narrowed his eyes. What was this guy getting at, exactly? Alex noticed his expression and began to laugh.

“Don’t worry man, I’m not trying to steal him or anything, it was only a joke,” he said. “Besides, I don’t even swing that way.”

_ Yeah neither does he,  _ John thought.

“Maggie and Athena kinda invited us to a beach picnic this afternoon, and Millie’s really excited to go. I’m sure Athena and Maggie wouldn’t mind if you and Paul came too.” Alex said. John just blinked at him. “You don’t have to commit or anything right now, Just show up around noon if you want to.”

“I’ll talk to Paul about it,” John murmured. Christ, it was too early for this.

“Sweet! They said be there around one, I’ll see you then if y’all decide to come, I gotta get back to my walk, though.”

“Yeah, and should head back to me villa.”

“Nice talking to you, man.”

John gave him a nod.

Paul’s head shot up like a deer in headlights when John shuffled back inside. In fact, a small part of John could almost believe he saw a pair of ears twitching above his friend’s head. He seemed so caught off guard, with his hair still damp and a towel around his neck. Not that John would ever admit it but there was something so endea-

“There you are!” Paul’s voice cut through John’s thoughts. “I was about to search around the bloody resort for you.” John snorted at that.

“Oh yes, how would I ever find my way back here without my most dearest, Paulie to rescue me!” he dramatized. Paul smiled.

“Tosser,” he murmured.

“Such a romantic,” John quipped back and Paul pushed his arm.

“Come on, let’s plan our day,” he said. John groaned.

“Why can’t we just make it up as we go? Y’know, be spontaneous?” he asked.

“Well, we pretty much have been,” Paul countered. “C’mon we haven’t talked about any of the stuff we wanna do y’know, not even in the itinerary.” Why did it seem like Paul’s eyes got bigger whenever he wanted something? John sighed.

“Fine,” he mumbled. They sat next to each other at the kitchen counter, itinerary in front of them.

“Maybe we could go bird watching?” Paul asked. John simply raised an eyebrow. “Well I mean, it  _ could  _ be fun. You never know, y’know. And it’s not exactly like we can go bird watching in Liverpool, now can we?”

“I don’t know what yer talking about, I do plenty of bird watching in Liddypool,” John sniggered. “N’ not fer nothing but nothing but I do a bit of bird touching too.” He caught Paul trying to suppress a laugh and he couldn’t help but let a small feeling of pride well up inside of him.

“Well, I think if ye touched these types of birds you’d get arrested,” Paul replied.

“Eh? that’s no fun.”

“Alright so that’s a no bird watching?” Paul asked.

“Mm, seems kinda boring.”

Paul sighed, grabbing the itinerary and taking another scan. His brow slowly furrowed. “Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be much else on today.”

“What a shame,” John deadpanned and Paul gave him a small frown that made him break into giggles.

“Okay John then what are  _ your _ ideas about how to spend the day,” Paul replied, folding his arms.

“Revolution.”

“Sorry, I’m not very politically minded.”  _ Liar. _

“Well, that’s too bad.”

There was silence. Paul was still looking at John like he expected him to say something. John sighed.

“Alright look, while I was out walking I came across one of the lads from the orientation.”

“Cheating on me already,” Paul taunted.

“Oh, come off it,” John said rolling his eyes and Paul chuckled. “Anyway, they guy, Alex said there’s this beach picnic that he and some of the others are going to, he invited us.” Paul placed his finger to his lips, taking in what John had told him. John felt his cheeks grow hot and looked down at the floor.

“And it would just be at the beach down the path?”

“Yeah.”

“We don’t have to bring anything, do we?”

“No, I don’t think so. He didn’t say we had to bring anything. he said we could just sort of show up.”

“Hm. Did he say when it was?” Paul asked.

“One o’clock,” John replied, looking back up to meet Paul’s eyes.

“Well that’s only like, two hours away, so why don’t we go down in like, half an hour or so and just relax until it starts?” Paul suggested. John smiled.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good.”

Paul stretched his arms and hopped down from the stool.

“Okay, well I’m going to get ready,” he said, walking out of the room.

“Alright,” John murmured. He took a glance at his phone. A text from George, continuing from a conversation they were having last night.

****

**_Geege Parasol:_ ** _ I mean yeah I told u it was a bad idea _

**_Geege Parasol:_ ** _ if he does end up feeling awkward u can’t blame him cuz it objectively is _

John grimaced.  _ Really fucking reassuring _ , he sent back. He knew it was a mistake to talk to George about this shit. He was looking for advice, not an opinion. Dots started to appear.

****

**_Geege Parasol:_ ** _ I’m just being honest  _

**_John:_ ** _ yea well pauls different from u _

**_Geege parasol:_ ** _ ok _

**_Geege parasol:_ ** _ sorry I guess _

****

He sighed. For fuck’s sake. It probably wasn’t good to get in a fight with George while he was supposed to be on holiday. Still, why did he have to be so difficult?

**_John:_ ** _ its whatever ig u just didn’t say what i wanted to hear _

**_Geege Parasol:_ ** _ yeah I know _

__

Does George know? John thought. Then again, what was there to know? Nothing. Whatever George might think he knew, he didn’t.

“Hey John, if you wanna get changed, the bathroom’s free,” he heard Paul call.

**_John:_ ** _ gtg _

__

John couldn’t understand why he was twisting himself about this anyway. It wasn’t a big deal, or even that surprising, really. Man who is attracted to men… is attracted to man. It didn’t mean he was in love with him or anything. Still, he found himself blushing at that thought. He huffed and continued getting changed. When he walked out of the bathroom, Paul was sitting on the bed in a t-shirt and shorts, scrolling through his phone.

“Well,” John said, stretching out his arms, “How do I look?” John was rather happy with the fit himself, the sunny yellow Hawaiian shirt matching nicely with his white swim trunks. Paul just gave him a quizzical smile that John refused to believe was the reason for his heart speeding up.

“Like a tourist,” he giggled. John gave him a wide grin.

“Perfect.”

The sun shone in their eyes as they walked the short track to the beach. Paul kept his arm to his head, trying to shield himself from the rays.

“Something the matter, Paul?” John asked with a smug grin through his sunglasses. And suddenly there was a swipe at his face as Paul took the sunglasses and settled them over his own face.

“Hey, those are prescription!” John protested. Paul arched his neck slightly.

“Should’ve thought about that before you made fun of me then,” he replied. John felt his cheeks grow hot as he started to glare. Paul just burst out laughing. The beach was still surprisingly quiet. Aside from a few families and there, John and Paul were rather alone. They walked along the beach for a while, talking about nothing in particular, each kicking their feet in the ocean. John eventually snatched his sunglasses back much to his own triumph and Paul’s dismay. Paul was just… so… John didn’t care to complete the thought.

“C’mon, let’s circle back around,” he said. He felt kind of bad, seeing Paul trying to carry the same energy of conversation they had a couple minutes back, but John found himself lost in… something. He wasn’t thinking about anything in particular but he wasn’t able to focus on what Paul was saying either. He just stared at the sand as they made their way back to where they once were.

“Oh, Paul! John!” a somewhat familiar voice called out. John looked up to see a woman in denim shorts and a bikini top in a similar yellow to his own shirt carrying a surfboard. Maggie. Or was that Athena? No, John was pretty sure it was Maggie-

“Hey, Athena!” Paul replied. Alright then, so it was Athena. “Uh, Alex told us you and Maggie were having a picnic and kind of… invited us?” Paul looked at John, as if he was looking for confirmation that he was right.

“Yeah,” John added. “Lad said you’d be happy to have us, but if that’s not the case-“

“Oh, no I was gonna invite you guys anyway!” Athena quickly clarified, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. “Actually, I kinda asked him to tell you about it if he saw you guys. Maggie’s setting up the picnic stuff now. I can take you over to her if you’d like.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Paul replied. John’s eyes kept falling to the board Athena was carrying.

“So, you surf?” he asked. Athena grinned.

“Yeah! I’ve loved it since I was twelve. I’m born and raised in Cali so…”

“Ahh, an L.A rich kid,” John deadpanned.

“ _ John _ ,” Paul scolded but Athena just burst out laughing.

“God no, please. No, I grew up in a small town, but there were still plenty of beaches around,” she explained. “What about you two? You surf?” John snorted.

“Have ye seen Britain’s beaches?” Paul chuckled.

“Okay, point. Not that I actually have seen them, just your country isn’t a place exactly known for summer fun.” John let out a mock gasp.

“I am offended on the queen’s behalf!” he exclaimed. Athena cackled and Paul pushed his arm. John turned to him and pointed a finger. “And what were you implying about Britain’s good British beaches? Deserve to have yer citizenship revoked you do!” Paul hung his head and threw up his hands.

“Ugh, you’re right. How will Her Majesty ever accept me back?” he asked with a smile on his lips. John heard Athena giggle and murmur,

“Yeah, you two are a great fit.” He turned back to her, brow furrowed. Athena’s eyes went wide immediately. “I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind me saying that, I didn’t mean anything by it really!” she quickly clarified. “It’s just… you two seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and y’know, that’s important. I’ve met so many people that just seem to only tolerate their partners, it’s sad really. So it’s just nice that the both of you get along so well. I’m sorry if that seems weird or something.”

“No, it’s alright,” Paul’s voice cut in. His smile was gentle. “I do get on well with him. Always have.”

John was frozen in place. This wasn’t… partners who tolerated each other… but John and Paul got on… this wasn’t  _ real _ . They weren’t together. It was a lie. A silly, selfish one at that. They were faking all of this because they wanted a fucking vacation. That’s the only reason they were doing this, the only reason Paul was doing this. Paul was straight for Christ's sake. All of this relationship bullshit was an illusion. Literally a fucking lie. An elaborate joke only he and Paul were in on. So why did John find his heart ached?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed the chapter please think about leaving a comment!! Comments are really a fic writer's fuel and I really enjoy seeing y'all's reactions <3


	5. Sunsets And Realisations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, everyone! This chapter's slightly longer than usual so I hope that makes it worth it :-)

Once John, Paul and Athena had made their way to Maggie she had already finished setting up, sitting cross-legged on the blanket, reading a book.

“Hey baby,” Athena said as they approached. “Set up went okay?”

“Yeah!” Maggie replied. “I left the food in the basket so it doesn’t get sand in it but I decided to set up the plates and knives and forks, I hope we have enough.”

“We will, I’m sure,” Athena said. She turned to John and Paul. “You two are welcome to stay here or if you want, you can come back when Alex and Millie get here…?”

John turned to his fake boyfriend. “Paul?” he asked. Paul blinked his doe eyes a couple times.

“Hm? Oh, I think we’ll stay here if that’s alright,” he said. Athena’s expression faltered slightly.

“Oh… cool!” she replied. John frowned.

“Is there a problem?” he asked. Maggie chuckled from behind them and John turned his attention to her.

“Athena wants to go surfing but she doesn’t wanna be rude.”

“Maggie!”

“Am I wrong?”

Athena was silent, cheeks visibly red. John could see Paul was holding back a smirk.

“We don’t want to keep you,” his friend said diplomatically. “We won’t find it rude if you go surfing for a bit.” Athena’s face lit up.

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind staying,” she said clearly trying to contain her excitement. John snorted.

“Go do your L.A rich kid things,” he said and the trio chuckled while Maggie just stared with a quizzical expression.

“Alright.” Athena ran over to Maggie and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and a murmured “I love you,” then ran back out towards the water. “I’ll see you guys later!” she called.

“So, do you surf too, Maggie?” Paul asked, sometime later. They were all sitting on the large picnic blanket and drinking beer, watching Athena in the distance. It was mainly Paul that was carrying the conversation, with John adding in a quippy remark here and there. He wondered if they actually seemed like a couple.

“Oh no,” Maggie laughed. “Thena’s tried to teach me so many times but I’m terrible. I guess it’s just not my calling. I take pictures of her though! Surfing, that is.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, they’re on my Instagram. Here, lemme show you.”

Probably not, John decided. Unlike Athena and Maggie, who’s lives seem to perfectly intertwine. Did it even matter? Did it matter if they were found out? Why were they even trying to keep up this act in the first place? John felt Paul put his hand on his back as he leant over to see Maggie’s photos. Was that part of it? Something he would do if they were actually a couple? He stared at Paul for a second. Paul noticed and just gave him a smile. Christ why was this all so bizarre?

“Huh, those are incredible,” Paul said to Maggie. “Ye have a real talent.” Maggie gave a shy smile.

“Thanks, but y’all are the talented ones,” she murmured. “Don’t you two make music or something?”

“Yeah, we do!” Paul replied, grabbing John’s hand as he did, giving John a small heart attack. Now that he thought about it, didn’t  _ he _ do the same thing on their first night in the cab? John smirked at Paul.  _ Stealing me moves now, I see _ , he thought, as if his friend could hear him.

“We actually met because of music,” he chimed in and Maggie’s eyes widened as if he just told her some shocking secret or something.

“That’s so cute!” she blurted. John and Paul just stared at her. Then at each other. Were Paul’s cheeks…red? “I mean-! Sorry, it’s just I love stories like that, when people bond over shared interests like that. I’m kinda sappy like that, sorry if that seems weird.”

“Not at all,” Paul assured her quickly.

“How ‘bout I tell ye the whole story?” John asked.

“Please, only if you want-” Maggie said.

“Alright so I met Paul and ‘e was this chubby kid- ow!”

“I was  _ not _ chubby when you met me!” Paul interjected.

“Ah, but you admit you were chubby at one point.”

“That’s not important, if yer gonna tell the story, tell it right.”

“Alright, alright, Christ… so I had this band, which honestly I barely needed I just kept ‘em around cause even they sounded better than garage band synths…”

John told Maggie a condensed version of the story (with occasional interruptions from Paul,) how a mutual friend sent Paul a copy of his band’s mixtape, how that friend subsequently introduced them two weeks later, without  _ telling _ John Paul had heard the mixtape; so when Paul had said he’d enjoyed it John was at a loss for words. How they bonded, not just over their love for music, but old music, fifties classics like Chuck Berry and Little Richard. How Paul became a member of the band almost immediately, essentially with no discussion, how they started writing together. John and Paul. Paul and John. Lennon-McCartney. McCartney-Lennon.

“And then… how did you fall in love?” Maggie asked. John essentially repeated what Paul had said to the taxi driver, hand tensing in Paul’s as he lied. He heard Paul chuckle, and something about that pissed him off.

Alex and Millie arrived sometime later and settled in. Once Athena came back, the six of them began to feast.

“Not gonna have a sandwich, Paul?” Athena asked with a hand to her mouth, concealing her chewing. Paul gave her a smile.

“Er, sorry, I would but I’m vegetarian.”

“Ah, shit we should’ve considered that, and other dietary requirements I guess. Sorry.”

“No, no, It’s really okay,” Paul assured. John smirked and went in for another sandwich.

“Guess I’ll ‘ave to eat for the both of us,” he said and took a huge bite.

The discussion was rather pleasant, John supposed. There did seem to be a surprising amount of comradery between all of them, despite them only having just met. Athena talked about how she was an aspiring journalist, which led to Millie talking about how she worked at a bookstore which led to John himself jokingly proclaiming he would’ve bullied them all in secondary school, (and perhaps talking about a couple of the short stories he’d written himself.) Still, he felt like an imposter, merely pretending to be one of them. They had all found themselves scarfing the food down rather quickly, courtesy of it being really delicious.

“Christ Maggie, these sandwiches are fuckin’ good,” John had said at one point.

“Hey, why’d you assume Maggie made them? Do I not look like I can cook, or something?” Athena asked, incredulously. John froze. Ah, shit, he thought. Now you’ve done it, Lennon. Though Athena’s expression changed. “I can’t… she did make them, but still you didn’t have to  _ assume _ I didn’t.” John felt his body relax and then Paul burst out laughing.

“You should’ve… your  _ face _ !” Paul said, still giggling. John gave Paul a slight slap to the arm. Laugh it up, ye prick, he thought. But of course, that only caused Paul to laugh harder.

“Oh, do any of us wanna swim around or something?” Millie asked sometime later. She went on to explain that she and Alex had brought a floatable volleyball with them and been wondering if any of them wanted to have a game. The others had all responded rather enthusiastically, quickly stripping down to their bathing suits. Which is exactly why John felt as if there was no way to be discreet. He really hoped no one was really paying attention.  _ Fucking pathetic _ , he thought as he trailed behind Paul. He looked down and grimaced at the clearly visible muffin top. Fuck, he should’ve worn a shirt he was able to swim in.

“You okay?” A voice lifted him out of his thoughts. Paul had turned back to look at him.  _ Don’t do that. _

“Fine,” John replied. “Jus’ thinking.”

“Shouldn’t do too much of that, son… let’s go join the others in the water, yeah?” John nodded and they began walking once more. “Oh, and John? Ye look good.” John just walked ahead.

The game was rather informal, there wasn’t a net or anything, they were just sort of bouncing this ball in between two teams. Millie had immediately volunteered her and Alex to be the couple that had to be split for an equal team of three, with Alex commenting that she had a rather large competitive streak. John would be competitive too, he supposed. That is, if there was anything to compete over. They were just aggressively hitting a ball between them. Then again Athena had splashed water directly into John’s face so maybe there actually was something to get competitive about. And competitive they were. The teams were split like this – John, Paul and Millie on one side, Maggie, Athena and Alex on the other. Each team determined to win, or at least establish some form of dominance over the other. At one point, John saw Millie spike the ball higher than even he thought possible, only for it to land less than a meter away. Everyone burst into hysterics and that, except for Millie who yelled at them to stop laughing, which made them laugh even harder. It was truly a free for all. The ball was whacked, slapped (kicked?) all over the place. Maggie even had a shot where she bounced the ball off her head, to which Paul yelled

“Hey, this isn’t football!”

“Football?” Athena asked. “Oh, you mean soccer.  _ Soccer _ .” Paul tried to splash her, but she quickly dodged. It was Alex’s turn to serve next and when he did, John just watched as the ball went up, up, up towards and over him. He heard a splash behind him and then he could suddenly feel skin against his back.  _ Paul _ . His heart sped up. It was as if in that moment he could feel every inch of Paul’s skin against his. Smooth and comforting. And as quickly as it had appeared, the warm body had gone, the moment shattering with the sound of a splash. John turned to see Paul had spiked the Ball to the right of them.

“Point!” Millie declared.

“Yeah, to us!” argued Alex. “That was  _ way  _ out of bounds!”

“Oh c’mon, we’ve let you get away with worse!"

“Like what?!”

“That time when you belted it like a meter behind us,  _ that _ was out of bounds!”

“It was closer to a point than whatever that just was!”

“Well, I was rather impressed with meself,” Paul chimed in. “It wasn’t easy taking that shot, I think that should count for something, shouldn’t it?” John turned to Paul who glanced at him and winked. John grew hot, the moment from earlier flooded back to the front of his mind. They ended up getting that point. Thanks to Paul’s charm. Of course they did.

The game ended soon later, with each couple wading back to shore with heated discussion about who  _ really  _ won. To John it was obvious.

“We bloody  _ pummeled _ ye,” he asserted. “There’s no debate.” Which was met with an ‘oh please,’ from Maggie and a light-hearted ‘accept your loss like a man,’ from Alex. John rolled his eyes. He heard Paul giggle. It felt like having his chest against his back all over again. When they made it back Athena and Maggie ran to get their towels. Fuck, John thought. He and Paul forgot their towels. And now he stood there, wet and shivering. And fa-

“So, is anyone going on the boat ride?” Alex asked. John saw Paul look up.

“Hm, what boat ride?”

“There’s a sunset boat ride they do here. it starts around 5:30.”

“We were gonna go to that,” Maggie chimed in. “But we decided against it. The picnic was already a lot of work… Not complaining though, this was fun.” Paul turned to John.

“You wanna go?” he asked him. “It could be fun, y’know.”  _ That’s what you say about everything, _ John thought. But he wasn’t against it, really. And if Paul wanted to go…

“Sure, why not?” he yawned. He saw Paul supress a smile.

“You’ll see me and Alex there then!” Millie told them.

“We’ll look forward to it,” Paul replied.

They returned to their villa soon after, lazed around for a couple hours, freshened themselves up a little bit.

“Should we get tea?” John asked at one point.

“Mm, I think they have snacks on the boat ride,” Paul replied. “Besides, y’know, we can always get something after. John nodded. And before he knew it, it was time to go again. It wasn’t even dark yet, then again John supposed that the point was to watch the sunset on the  _ actual boat _ . A shame he didn’t voice his thoughts out loud, really. Surely Paul would be impressed with his incredible deduction skills.

The boat was smaller than John expected. It was modern enough, seemed to have a jet and all that stuff. But what you saw was really what you got. There was a deck then a rather small inside interior. The only thing really different thing about it was Coconut Paradise’s logo was printed in large letters. The thing got more obnoxious every time John saw it, he thought.

“John! Paul!,” a voice called out. John looked up. Alex and Millie were already on the boat.

“Who are you two again?!” John called back. He saw Alex grin and put up his middle finger and he struck a flamboyant pose in response. They boarded the boat a couple minutes later. John stared at the harbor while Alex and Millie exchanged pleasantries with him and Paul. Even though they were on the couple’s retreat, it seemed like the resort catered to all sorts of people. John saw kids running around playing games, girls in bikinis trying to chat up surfers, hell a group of elderly people... And middle aged. What eventually caught John’s eye was the two people he recognised. She was wearing a pink Hawaiian shirt and these god awful beige looking three quarter shorts. And he was wearing this graphic tee that said ‘I LOVE HAWAII’ in big cartoonish letters. And the  _ same _ fucking shorts! It was the restaurant line couple from yesterday. John narrowed his eyes as he saw them walk up the stairs to the boat. Great. They’d be stuck avoiding these two the entire time. just how he wanted to spend his evening. The woman looked up and for a split second their eyes locked. John turned around immediately.  _ Fuck _ .

“Everything okay?” he heard Paul ask. But before John could respond he heard.

“Oh hey! I’m glad you guys could come.” It was the instructor girl from yesterday.

“The pleasure’s all ours,” he heard Millie say.

“The boat ride will begin in around 10 minutes,” the instructor went on to explain. “We wanna make sure the sun sets at just the right time.”

“Yeah, of course,” Paul said. “Thanks, Morgan.” Christ, how did Paul remember everyone’s names so easily? They continued to chat idly, seemingly to John, all Paul’s interest as to what was going on with  _ him _ had dissipated. They were discussing various activities available in and around the resort until Paul asked, “so how long have you been working here?” and it took John a fair amount of restraint to not roll his eyes. Sure, maybe John was reading too much into it, but he  _ knows _ how Paul chats up birds, he’s seen the lad do it enough times now. Thank fuck it was too subtle to be picked up on by the people who fucking thought they were a couple. Alex and Millie had begun having a different conversation anyway, which he was partially grateful for, but it meant he was still trapped in Paul’s latest ‘interest.’ Eventually, Morgan told them she had to go speak with the captain. Paul gave her a warm smile.

“Nice to speak to you,” he said to her. And John couldn’t help but notice the blush that spread across Morgan’s face. His fists clenched. Paul had the audacity to ask him the same question he had before.

“Everything ok?”

“Fine,” John muttered. Paul stared at him for a second.

“Alright,” he replied. “Good.” John couldn’t decide if his friend was genuinely that clueless or if he’d just decided to drop it. His eyes drifted back to the couple from earlier. They were sitting quietly, with glasses of champagne in their hands. He snorted at the sight. Paul glanced in the direction of John’s stare and quickly whipped back.

“Don’t draw attention,” he said, holding back a smirk. “They don’t seem to like us… for some reason.”

“ _ Some reason _ ,” John repeated. “A real fuckin’ mystery why. They’re bigots, Paul.” Paul’s expression suddenly turned dead-pan.

“Well-  _ perhaps _ . We shouldn’t jump to conclusions about people we don’t know-”

“Ye don’t have to deal with this shit regularly.” Paul was silent.  _ Yeah _ , John thought.  _ I figured- _

“John, do you know how many people just  _ assume _ I’m gay because of my appearance?” Paul asked. Shit. Right.

“Look, it’s not the same.”

“How come?”

John rolled his eyes. “I’m not arguing with ye, ok?” he hissed. Paul looked like he was about to say something. However, he inevitably refrained.

“Fine.”

They stood in silence as the boat left the docks. Alex and Millie had seemingly deserted them, Paul’s latest catch was nowhere in sight. They had been left alone. Did John… did John say something wrong? No. no he didn’t, of course he fucking didn’t. Especially when Paul was basically like…  _ defending _ those twats and then dismissing his perspective ‘cause what? A 67 year old called him a queer once? Fuck that. They continued to ignore each other. 

John heard a loud gasp that drew his attention back to the couple in question. It seemed that woman had accidently spilt wine on herself and was now scrambling to remove it from her shirt. John couldn’t help but revel in it. The more frantic she got, the more joyful he became. He chanced a look at Paul who had his hand over his mouth, which did little to conceal the large grin that was spread across his face and slowly any anger John had felt towards him dissipated. After all, it was really all the couple’s fault anyway, wasn’t it? Their not-so-subtle homophobia was the whole fucking reason for their spat in the first place. He took a moment to build up the nerve, and then gave Paul’s arm a small nudge.

“Wanna piss ‘em off?” he whispered. Paul turned, eyes glistening with curiosity.

“How?”

“Follow my lead.” And before he could overthink it like he had everything else up to this bloody point, he slid his body closer to Paul’s until there was very little space between them and kissed his cheek. It was soft. So soft. He felt Paul go rigid against him for a second. And then, slowly, he relaxed.

“And how are we going get them to look over?” he asked. John smiled.

“We don’t, we wait until they look over themselves.”

“But what if the d-”

“Oh, they will, trust me. We just ‘ave to be patient.” He took a breath through his nose. “Could I, um… could I put me arms around you?” he asked. “For-”

“Yer me ‘boyfriend’ aren’t ye? Go ahead,” Paul chuckled. John grew incredibly hot.

“R-right…” he stammered as he wrapped his arms around Paul’s waist, hoping Paul couldn’t feel him sweat. Paul was warm, in a comforting way, like sheets just out of a dryer. John did his best all but not to lean into him. And once again, John had to remind himself that this wasn’t real none of it was real.  _ Yer me ‘boyfriend’ aren’t ye?  _ No, no he wasn’t.  _ Go ahead _ . He can’t, it doesn’t work like that. John looked to the horizon. The sun had started to go down, painting the sky and ocean a blushing pink. And here they were. Watching the sunset in each others’ arms. Like a couple. Like they were in love. It wasn’t real but… but maybe… maybe John wanted it to be. Even if the ache in his chest told him it couldn’t.

“John… John, she’s looking!” Paul murmured. John took a peak over and sure enough, he saw the woman staring.  _ Caught ye, you hag!  _ He thought as he placed calculated kisses against Paul’s cheek and around his ear. As he kissed as close to Paul’s lips as he would ever  _ dare _ , he locked eyes with her. She gawked at him in disgust, and he just glared right back.  _ It’s not real _ , he thought.  _ But you think it is, and I’m glad that pisses you off.  _ And with that, she turned away, looking mortified as she did. John did his best not to devolve into laughter. Which was hard, especially with a certain someone chuckling darkly against him. Eventually, they both broke down into giggles, not caring how it looked. Paul looked  _ radiant  _ when he laughed.

They stayed pressed together for the remainder of the boat ride, just in case she looked over again. What felt just minutes later, they were back on land giggling down a pier. _‘Did_ _ye see her face?’ ‘she was so bloody red I thought she was gonna blow her top!’ ‘Yeah, I was half expecting her to pop a vein or something, y’know!’_ And John couldn’t help but realise just how relaxed Paul was. He felt like a bit of a knob really, freaking himself out about making Paul uncomfortable. John supposed he needed to realise Paul wasn’t as fragile as he sometimes liked to pretend.

Really, he thought as they brought dinner from the restaurant back to the villa, he just didn’t want to confront his own feelings. He just didn’t want to like touching Paul  _ too much _ , and well it was too late for that. Although Paul seemed oblivious so it was… fine, right? No. Paul wasn’t uncomfortable now but he definitely would be if he ever found out. He felt like such a fucking creep. But it’s not like he intentionally got Paul to go with him for this, right? Paul turned to him and it was only then John realised that he had been zoning out on his side profile. Paul gave him a small smile that set John’s chest alight. It was an expression that was so… comforting. It was warm and inviting and John thought he could just bask in it forever.  _ I want to see him smile like that everyday _ , a thought that made panic swell up inside him. He wanted Paul so badly, more than he ever realised. He was so  _ fucked _ .   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone, and thank you for reading! I hope you're all able to have a great holiday despite the year. Once again huge thank you to Laura for being my beta reader on this. You can follow her on twitter @kiwimccartney if you'd like.
> 
> And come talk to me on tumblr: queerlennon.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's left comments. I love reading them, seeing what everyone thought and they really keep me motivated. I'd really appreciate it if you let me know your thoughts this time as well <3


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